[Music]
[Applause]
you are the living story of your
ancestors where you are today was
determined not only by your actions but
also by the actions of your parents your
grandparents your great-grandparents and
those of your ancestors hundreds and
thousands of years ago their movements
choices successes and failures you
sitting here with us today are the
direct result of a culmination of
conduct by innumerable people genealogy
is the second most popular hobby in
America my roots are third fourth fifth
and sixth generation American but my
roots also run deep in the soil of Italy
the farmlands of Ireland and the
Potteries of England the past seems so
distant to many of us but we are its
children and were not always very good
at listening to our parents humanizing
our history makes that past palpable it
makes the people personal it makes the
journeys your ancestors took an integral
part of who you are when they become
real people instead of just names in a
book or a photo on the wall their
experiences can teach us discovering the
stories of our ancestors provides
lessons in empathy in humility in
forgiveness and compassion meet Fanny
Morelli born in Italy she arrived to New
York City with her family at the age of
four in her teens Fanny was a
suffragette even though she wouldn’t be
able to vote as a non citizen she
later told a family member it was just
something that had to be done she
married an Italian at 19 and he
naturalized four years later just after
the laws had changed that would have
made Fanny an automatic citizen – she
was widowed in 1940 as World War two
loomed she started the process to
naturalize herself but not soon enough
once war broke out Fanny was labeled an
enemy alien she had to surrender radios
and cameras carry special identification
at all times register with the
government
Fanny finally became a citizen in
December 1943 after Italy’s surrender
and after answering lengthy questions
about her support of the war effort
about where her true sentiments lie this
was a woman who likely had no memory of
her home country she was treated like a
criminal
simply because of where she was born she
was treated like a criminal
simply because of where she was born
this enemy alien was my
great-grandmother when I learned this
story I was really astounded she was
always just grandma Fanny she never gave
any hints to the adversity she faced and
she was always so grateful to the
country she called home if she could
persevere in the face of all that we
always joked she lived to ninety six
because she was widowed young and didn’t
have a man to bother her it was likely
the result of a thick skin and a strong
work ethic both of which she perfected
involuntarily knowing that’s my stock is
humbling to think of her and the dozens
of other ancestors I have who got on a
boat and left behind everything they
knew to create better lives for
themselves
children gives me pride and courage and
it connects me to all of the people that
do the same today decades centuries may
separate their journeys but the hope for
a better life knows no era many fled
persecution at home just to pave the
streets here they were already meant to
be golden research conducted through
Emory University shows that children who
know stories of their family are more
resilient have higher self-esteem and
feel they have more control over their
lives
dr. Marshall Duke and dr. Robin five-ish
say that family knowledge can lead to a
robust intergenerational self when one
feels connected to something bigger than
themselves
this is strongest when a child knows a
mix of family stories the good and the
bad with family as the constant it’s not
just immigrants whose stories ring true
today along the way you find stories of
life in the Jim Crow South which for
some is still a reality you find a widow
left with small children who ends up in
the poorhouse at the mercy of government
assistance you find that grandpas
cherished mother was an unwed single
parent cast aside not only by her family
but by her entire congregation or Uncle
Ben you realize maybe he and his dear
friend weren’t actually bachelors after
all when we place ourselves there with
our ancestors in those moments we live
those struggles and joys with them we
understand them better and we understand
ourselves better the stories connect us
across the generations and just maybe
they challenge our perceptions of what
we think we know all unwed mothers MA
to be immoral sinners right but what
about great-grandma Tilly
gay people don’t deserve equal rights
but Uncle Ben and his friend if we let
it the other becomes our family they
become us these people we uncover along
the way quite literally make us who we
are
my father is 100% southern Italian but
his DNA also includes North African
Middle Eastern Caucasus and European
Jewish well I may never be able to find
the paper records that take me back to
those non Italian ancestors remnants of
them remain in the blood that runs
through my veins this gives new
perspective
Syrians Iraqis and Yemeni are not just
casualties of war on the news they are
my cousin’s DNA shows us we are more
alike than we are different it shatters
the idea of a pure race even when we
think we are only from one place we are
actually of many places in the American
South case after case exists where
descendants of slaves hold close to one
quarter European DNA and descendants of
slaveholders also frequently have
African DNA we often want to divorce
ourselves from this history but a climb
up the family tree pits you and history
face to face do you fight that battle
against your own past or do you learn
from it of course this research is not
always easy to stomach or to conduct
tracing slaves is notoriously difficult
every country of origin will be
different in terms of what records are
available but stories of perseverance
and strength and hard times can be found
in every generation in just six
generations roughly 105
two years you are directly descended
from 128 people that is a lot of stories
our ancestors may not have made the
history books but they wrote the history
and the story of us knowing our
genealogy connects us to the ground
beneath our feet if we disregard these
roots we lose the very foundation we are
built upon our ancestors can awaken
within us a new understanding of the
world we live in we once were them and
in no small part still are our ancestors
have a lot to tell us and a lot to teach
us let’s listen thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
you are the living story of your
ancestors where you are today was
determined not only by your actions but
also by the actions of your parents your
grandparents your great-grandparents and
those of your ancestors hundreds and
thousands of years ago their movements
choices successes and failures you
sitting here with us today are the
direct result of a culmination of
conduct by innumerable people genealogy
is the second most popular hobby in
America my roots are third fourth fifth
and sixth generation American but my
roots also run deep in the soil of Italy
the farmlands of Ireland and the
Potteries of England the past seems so
distant to many of us but we are its
children and were not always very good
at listening to our parents humanizing
our history makes that past palpable it
makes the people personal it makes the
journeys your ancestors took an integral
part of who you are when they become
real people instead of just names in a
book or a photo on the wall their
experiences can teach us discovering the
stories of our ancestors provides
lessons in empathy in humility in
forgiveness and compassion meet Fanny
Morelli born in Italy she arrived to New
York City with her family at the age of
four in her teens Fanny was a
suffragette even though she wouldn’t be
able to vote as a non citizen she
later told a family member it was just
something that had to be done she
married an Italian at 19 and he
naturalized four years later just after
the laws had changed that would have
made Fanny an automatic citizen – she
was widowed in 1940 as World War two
loomed she started the process to
naturalize herself but not soon enough
once war broke out Fanny was labeled an
enemy alien she had to surrender radios
and cameras carry special identification
at all times register with the
government
Fanny finally became a citizen in
December 1943 after Italy’s surrender
and after answering lengthy questions
about her support of the war effort
about where her true sentiments lie this
was a woman who likely had no memory of
her home country she was treated like a
criminal
simply because of where she was born she
was treated like a criminal
simply because of where she was born
this enemy alien was my
great-grandmother when I learned this
story I was really astounded she was
always just grandma Fanny she never gave
any hints to the adversity she faced and
she was always so grateful to the
country she called home if she could
persevere in the face of all that we
always joked she lived to ninety six
because she was widowed young and didn’t
have a man to bother her it was likely
the result of a thick skin and a strong
work ethic both of which she perfected
involuntarily knowing that’s my stock is
humbling to think of her and the dozens
of other ancestors I have who got on a
boat and left behind everything they
knew to create better lives for
themselves
children gives me pride and courage and
it connects me to all of the people that
do the same today decades centuries may
separate their journeys but the hope for
a better life knows no era many fled
persecution at home just to pave the
streets here they were already meant to
be golden research conducted through
Emory University shows that children who
know stories of their family are more
resilient have higher self-esteem and
feel they have more control over their
lives
dr. Marshall Duke and dr. Robin five-ish
say that family knowledge can lead to a
robust intergenerational self when one
feels connected to something bigger than
themselves
this is strongest when a child knows a
mix of family stories the good and the
bad with family as the constant it’s not
just immigrants whose stories ring true
today along the way you find stories of
life in the Jim Crow South which for
some is still a reality you find a widow
left with small children who ends up in
the poorhouse at the mercy of government
assistance you find that grandpas
cherished mother was an unwed single
parent cast aside not only by her family
but by her entire congregation or Uncle
Ben you realize maybe he and his dear
friend weren’t actually bachelors after
all when we place ourselves there with
our ancestors in those moments we live
those struggles and joys with them we
understand them better and we understand
ourselves better the stories connect us
across the generations and just maybe
they challenge our perceptions of what
we think we know all unwed mothers MA
to be immoral sinners right but what
about great-grandma Tilly
gay people don’t deserve equal rights
but Uncle Ben and his friend if we let
it the other becomes our family they
become us these people we uncover along
the way quite literally make us who we
are
my father is 100% southern Italian but
his DNA also includes North African
Middle Eastern Caucasus and European
Jewish well I may never be able to find
the paper records that take me back to
those non Italian ancestors remnants of
them remain in the blood that runs
through my veins this gives new
perspective
Syrians Iraqis and Yemeni are not just
casualties of war on the news they are
my cousin’s DNA shows us we are more
alike than we are different it shatters
the idea of a pure race even when we
think we are only from one place we are
actually of many places in the American
South case after case exists where
descendants of slaves hold close to one
quarter European DNA and descendants of
slaveholders also frequently have
African DNA we often want to divorce
ourselves from this history but a climb
up the family tree pits you and history
face to face do you fight that battle
against your own past or do you learn
from it of course this research is not
always easy to stomach or to conduct
tracing slaves is notoriously difficult
every country of origin will be
different in terms of what records are
available but stories of perseverance
and strength and hard times can be found
in every generation in just six
generations roughly 105
two years you are directly descended
from 128 people that is a lot of stories
our ancestors may not have made the
history books but they wrote the history
and the story of us knowing our
genealogy connects us to the ground
beneath our feet if we disregard these
roots we lose the very foundation we are
built upon our ancestors can awaken
within us a new understanding of the
world we live in we once were them and
in no small part still are our ancestors
have a lot to tell us and a lot to teach
us let’s listen thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
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